Late last year, president Obama signed a law that makes it possible to indefinitely detain terrorist suspects without any form of trial or due process. Peaceful protesters in Occupy movements all over the world have been labelled as terrorists by the authorities. Initiatives like SOPA promote diligent monitoring of communication channels. Thirty years ago, when Richard Stallman launched the GNU project, and during the three decades that followed, his sometimes extreme views and peculiar antics were ridiculed and disregarded as paranoia - but here we are, 2012, and his once paranoid what-ifs have become reality.

RMS may be a dick, he may need a shave, he may be wrong about a lot of stuff he does not understand, I don't care. He is right about free software.
The wise man shows the moon and the fools watch his finger.
Many people criticize him ad hominem but they are fools.
Proprietary software exist, as a matter of fact. It is a necessity. We haven't reached the point where we can eliminate it. There is no question about that. But free is better than proprietary, as a matter of fact. It's like put poverty and hunger. There is no way to eliminate it as of now but there is no question that a world without hunger is better.
Proprietary software is artificial scarcity. Free software is opulence.